BABA SCRATCHED CHUDO-YUDO idly behind the ears as she explained the situation to the White Rider, the Red Rider, and the Black Rider. Pledged to the service of the Baba Yagas, even Baba herself didn’t know exactly what kind of creatures they were behind their human masks. All she knew for certain was that they were immortal, powerful, and on her side. At the moment, that was more than enough.
“So,” Mikhail drawled, leaning forward to look at the laptop on the table in front of them. He and Gregori were tucked into the banquette seats with Baba. Alexei, whose bulk would never have fit in the limited space, had propped himself against the counter across the way. Baba thought she heard the trailer groan slightly as it adjusted to his weight.
Mikhail went on, recapping what Baba had just spent twenty minutes telling them in one brutal sentence. “You’re saying we have three children who have mysteriously disappeared with no explanation, a disturbance in the balance of the natural world that may or may not be related to Human gas drilling, and some woman wearing a glamour who you think may have used magic to disrupt a town meeting.”
He gestured at the pictures of the children on the screen in front of him with one manicured finger. “I can see why you called us in. This is a mess.” The accent that sometimes sounded harsh coming from the other two turned to music when it came from his well-formed mouth, but didn’t make his words any less painful.
Baba breathed in and out through her long nose, striving for an equanimity she didn’t feel. She always had a hard time maintaining her emotional distance—part of a Baba’s job description—when children were involved.
She tapped the photo of Mary Elizabeth Shields, clearly visible in the article posted by the local newspaper. Sometimes Baba thought the Internet was more amazing than magic; or at least more mystifying. As much as she disliked and distrusted modern technology, computers had proven to be more enticement than she could resist. The ability to do research wherever she was had won her over, although the rest of the time the laptop lived in a cabinet with some old books and Chudo-Yudo’s spare water bowl.
“This child is the one we are specifically looking for. Her grandmother is from the Old Country and knew enough to call me in. And her mother asked nicely and agreed to my terms; the bargain is made with her. But if you see any of the other missing children in your travels, I want to know immediately.” Her full lips drew together in a thin line.
Gregori shrugged. “I suspect that if we find them at all, it will be together. It would be too much of a coincidence for three children to disappear at the same time. Unless the first one gave someone else ideas, I suppose.”
“Yes, but that person may have split the kids up and sent them elsewhere,” Alexei disagreed, his voice a low rumble that made the windows rattle. “Or disposed of their bodies, I suppose.”
Under her hand, Chudo-Yudo stiffened, and Baba patted his head with tense fingers. “That is, of course, a possibility. But for now, I am assuming they are still alive and in need of rescue. I want you three to go out into the local area—and as far afield as you think reasonable—and look for them.”
“If the children are anywhere to be found, we will find them,” Gregori said with finality. “This Maya woman is using enchantments of some kind; are you assuming she is somehow connected to the Otherworld? Or could she just be a local witch who is using them for dark rituals? Such people do exist, after all.”
Baba’s stomach clenched, the stone that had taken up residence within growing larger by the minute. “I’m going to have a little talk with her,” she said through gritted teeth. “We’ll see what she has to say about all of this. But the magic felt like ours, not something Human, as much as I could tell across the room. And she felt like . . . more, somehow.”
“If she’s using them to fuel evil, the process might change them beyond recognition, if they even survive at all,” Alexei added, his gray eyes fixed meaningfully on Baba. He’d been around when she was growing up; he’d watched the old Baba raise her, and seen her move further and further from her human roots as the magic she learned changed and twisted her body and spirit in ways that were no less powerful for being invisible.
Baba shook herself like Chudo-Yudo after a bath, throwing off the gathering gloom that threatened to cloak her in despair. “Well, we can only do what we can do. You boys go have a look and see if you can spot anything the sheriff missed. I’ll tackle pretty Miss Maya tomorrow. Check in if you find anything.”
“I might keep an eye on our mysterious lady myself,” Gregori said, quiet menace emanating from his slender form. “See if I can spot her doing something incriminating.”